The next and greatest step in the further development of the metre was its introduction into the popular drama by no less a poet than Marlowe in his drama _Tamburlaine the Great_ (1587). Marlowe's mastery over this metrical form was supreme. His skill is shown in his use of the inversion of accent, particularly the rhetorical inversion, to give variety to his rhythm, e.g.:
_Áh, sacred Máhomet, | thóu that hast seen Míllions of Túrks | pérish by Támburláine._ Tam, ii, p. 213.
_But stíll the pórts were shút: | víllain, I sáy._ ib., p. 206.
_And hágs hówl for my déath | at Cháron's shóre._ Vol. ii. 255.
In his practice with regard to the caesura, the suppression of the anacrusis, and the use of disyllabic theses in the interior of the verse, he differs little from his predecessors. One distinctive feature of his verse is that he usually gives their full syllabic value to the Teutonic inflexional endings (_-ed_, _-est_), as well as to the Romanic noun- and adjective-suffixes; as _-iage_, _-iance_, _-ion_, _-eous_, _-ial_ &c. (cf. §§ 102-7).
By a frequent use of these endings as full syllables which is not always in conformity with the spoken language of his time, his verse obtains a certain dignity and pathos; cf. the following lines:
_Yét in my thóughts | shall Chríst be hónouréd._ Tamb. ii, p. 148.
_They sáy, | we áre a scáttered | nátión._ Jew of M. I, Sc. i.
_These métaphýsics | óf magíciáns._ Faust. I, Sc. ii.
Allied with this is the fact that Marlowe still has a great predilection for masculine endings, although feminine endings are also met with now and then, especially in his later plays. Run-on lines do not often occur, but many two- and three-foot lines as well as heroic couplets are found at the end of longer speeches, scenes, and acts.
The blank verse of Greene, Peele, Kyd, and Lodge has a similar structure to that of Marlowe, especially as regards the prevalence of masculine endings. The verse of Greene and Peele, however, is rather monotonous, because generally the caesura occurs after the second foot. On the other hand, the metre of Kyd and Lodge stands in this respect much nearer to that of Marlowe and in general shows greater variety.[156]
§ =164. The blank verse of Shakespeare=,[157] which is of great interest in itself, and moreover has been carefully examined during the last decades from different points of view, requires to be discussed somewhat more fully.